Pick Me Up When I Am Down
by Spyderlily11
Summary: Sage Dreygon, a 15 year old, goes on a mission trip that goes haywire when one wrong step changes her life drastically. With the help of SHIELD and the Avengers, she tries to deal with the disaster that has happened, along with her new life. A guy with tons of experience with her situation is the shoulder to lean on (Bad summary but I promise it's good!)
1. Don't Step Too Far

"We are finally here!" Evelyn breathed in once she stepped out of the stuffy van. We grabbed our luggage and bags out of the backseat and walked through the camp. An older man ushered us to a table covered in papers and lined with people and group leaders. I walked up and stood in front of the table, waiting for instruction.

"Sign your name in please," A mission leader said as she handed me a clipboard and pen. I wrote _Sage Dreygon_ on the line and handed everything back, looking around at the camp I would be staying in for the next few months this summer break. I was on a church mission trip with my friends to help the poor in Togo, Africa with supplies and medical.

"Well Sage and Evelyn, you two are sharing that bunk over there along with a few other girls," one of the leaders pointed to a dingy cabin house in the far back of the camp. We walked in and put our stuff away, meeting the two other girls,

"I'm Jocelyn and this is Jordan" the cheery blonde in the corner introduced as she hugged us. I was definitely not going to enjoy this as much as I planned. Happiness was overrated and how could anyone be in such a bubbly mood all the time; that must be tiring. The other girl, Jordan, was a bit more laid back and manageable.

"Is it just me or does this place smell funky?" Evelyn spoke behind me, searching under the bunks for the smell. We all shrugged it off, not really caring and just wanting to get to work here. We walked out into the bright sunlight and over to the supplies table. This mission had been going on for a while; we were the fifth group to come and help out.

"Hey uh.. you four! Can you do me a big favor?" a leader yelled at us, obviously oblivious to our names or even who we are. We all nodded and followed him into his bunk. He gave us a list and told us that they needed more supplies from a town just a half a mile away. I read over the list; _Gauze, toilet paper, band aids, gallon waters, batteries..._

"Okay that is good. Well, you should be on your way if you want to be back before lunch begins." We all nodded and headed down the designated sand trail to the small town.

"What fun! We actually get to do a mission on our own!" Jocelyn squealed as she ran ahead, almost unable to contain herself. Jordan just sighed and hurried along. A sign came up telling them they were almost halfway to their destination. I grabbed the list back out of my pocket and reread the list to make sure I didn't forget anything. I heard something buzzing in the air, almost a vibration, but I just ignored it, believing it was the numerous bugs that roamed these areas. We walked a few more steps when the noise became really loud. Evelyn and I shared a weird glance, looking forward at the two girls running; I knew I had to stop them. Evelyn got the same plan and we sprinted to the girls, yelling to stop moving because something just wasn't right. Jordan slowed and turned but Jocelyn kept moving, not hearing our pleas. I ran to her, grabbing her arm as she took one last step on a small dip in the sand. I heard the beeping underneath us and turned towards Jordan and Evelyn, wide eyed and screaming to run as fast as they can.

"Evelyn!" I screamed as the wind got knocked out of my lungs as I got shoved up from the ground, still holding onto a lifeless Jocelyn. I screamed as my skin began to burn, my eyes watering. I hit the ground hard, shards of metal and glass surrounding and covering me. I felt like my whole body was on fire as I got just enough strength to turn to my side. I looked at the gaping hole in the ground where the bomb had been, and right next to it a mangled and melted body; Jocelyn. I started crying as I screamed for Evelyn or Jordan or anyone that could help me. After a few minutes of trying to breathe normally over all the pain until it became numb with shock, I slowly pulled myself into a sitting position, my whole body telling me not to. I slowly looked around at the disaster I was sitting in. My head was pounding and my whole body ached at every movement.

"E-Evelyn.," I croaked out in a whisper, my eyes bloodshot as I searched for her, my eyes finding two bodies on the ground not far from me. They weren't moving, their chests weren't moving, they weren't breathing. I started to hyperventilate, fear and pain very apparent in my face. I dragged myself to the rock wall close to me, and tried to lean against it, only to fall flat on my back, screaming in pain. It was a dark cave, covered in deep green vines, hidden from the disaster. I pulled myself deep into the cave and curled in on myself, finally letting my emotions get the best of me as I let out a sob. I soon fell asleep from pure exhaustion and leaned heavily on the rock wall.


	2. Help Me

_"-three girls are dead in a tragic disaster in Kante, Togo in Africa. One girl with the girls is missing from the scene. An underground gamma bomb placed by an independent group is the source of this explosion. Officials are still searching for fifteen year old Sage Dreygon and more information will be provide-" _Tony turned off the screen, laying his head back in his chair.

"Doesn't Dreygon sound familiar to you?" Clint spoke as he stared at the evidence papers. Natasha nodded, thinking of where she had heard the name. Fury ran in following a very hysteric agent. Natasha knew that name now.

"We will find her Agent Dreygon! Just calm the hell down!" Fury pushed him into a chair, seeing as he was hyperventilating and on the edge of an anxiety attack. All the people in the room stood up in shock at the new information. Natasha came up behind Dreygon and hugged her arms around his shoulders, calming him down, "John you need to calm down, we will find Sage, all of us. I can promise you that." He slowly nods, tears dripping down his face.

"If you all are going to do this, get ready in five. I can have a plane ready for you all to get to Togo in less that four hours." Fury spoke as he helped John up, now exhausted from his outburst. They all ran to their rooms to pack what little they had. Fury watched the plane leave a bit later, then took his phone out to call someone he knew could help with this situation.

"What?" a gruff voice answered the other line.

"Dr. Banner, I am calling you because we need your help with a mission. A girl went missing in a gamma bomb explosion. I believe this is right up your alley." Fury stopped talking, hearing heavy breathing on the other line.

"When will I come over?" Bruce answered.

"As soon as possible sir. I can have a plane fly you to our base right now."

"Sounds great, pick me up in like a half an hour." He answered back, sounding tired. Fury nodded and hung up the phone. He walked over to Agent Coulson, "Get a plane to Banners house in 30," Coulson nodded, then walked off.

"Oh my lord I hate flying," Tony groaned as he laid back in his chair, playing around with all the buttons on the chair panel.

"Don't you fly for a living?" Natasha sarcastically spoke as she glared at Tony. Clint laughed under his breathe as he watched the plane land on the dirt landing field. One of the attendants came out and spoke, "Everyone welcome to Kante." They all walked off the plane and looked at the barren, sandy land around them. Their luggage is dropped behind them then the plane is gone.

"Well that is awesome," Tony muttered as he walked toward the mission camp. They greeted everyone then got taken to the disaster. It was a little over half a mile away, and if the deep canal in the ground was any indication, the thousands of pieces of metal that covered all the ground and surroundings told them that this was a very powerful bomb. Natasha and Clint had to put on haphazard suit and mask because of the high readings of gamma rays in the air. Tony put his iron suit on and they walked through the wide land, keeping in mind there was a huge rock wall to their right. Natasha went straight for the hole in the ground left by the bomb. It has a green tint and was at least 10 feet deep. Shards of the huge metal bomb were embedded throughout the ground. Clint walked over to where the bodies were, seeing their forms from where the dust had laid down. Tony kept to the wall, walking up and down the side, not sure what he was looking for.

There was a faint cry, almost like a whimper, coming from the end of the wall. Tony yelled for Natasha and Clint then they all walked quietly to the end, only to fin the wall end. The crying was loud now, but there was no way it was coming from inside the wall. Tony banged on the rock, slowly moving from one side to another, until one hit went straight through the rock. He tumbled forward from the power in his punch, landing in the dark cave. Natasha and Clint followed close behind, stepping over Tony as they examined the small cave. Tony got up and brightened the reactor in his chest slightly to give off more light as he looked around. He scanned the walls all the way into the back corner of the cave. He didn't notice her the first time he scanned the back. He went over the back again with his light, now noticing a shivering movement in the darkest corner. Her back was facing the wall, leaning heavily against it. Natasha inched forward, but Tony was already ahead of her. He sped forward to get to her.

"Stop making noise!" She screamed in the corner, shuddering as she placed her hands over her ears, "please.." she added. Natasha glared at Tony as she crept forward slowly, to not make as much noise. Once she made it next to the girl, she knelt down and brought her gloved hand onto her back. The girl flinched at the touch, her eyes wide as she turned to stare at Natasha.

"Are you Sage?" Natasha whispered as she slowly rubbed circles on the frightful girls back. She nodded painfully before slowly opening herself up more, unrolling herself from her crunched up state and turning to her side. Natasha got a full look of her condition. Her eyes were a way brighter green than usual, wide open and scared, her skin was covered in deep gashes from the bomb, and she looked as if she was about to have a panic attack. Natasha brought her into her own body, giving her body heat. Sage shivered and tried to remain calm as the other two guys came over. Tony knelt down in front of her, putting out his hand to shake, but one glare from Natasha and he brought his hand back in. Clint stayed standing, knowing too many people near you can be overwhelming.

"W-Who are you," Sage stuttered and coughed, her eyes becoming brighter as more pain coursed through her veins.

"I'm Natasha, that guy in the suit is Tony, and the guy with the bow is Clint." Natasha spoke softly, still assessing the horrible injuries on Sage. One of her ears were bleeding, meaning her inner ear was blown from the explosion.

"We need to get her to the hospital," Clint whispered to Natasha, who nodded then proceeded to gently picked up Sage, who hissed as every movement.

"Let me carry her. I can get her to the carrier faster," Tony informed them. With his suit, he was able to lift anything like it was nothing. Natasha nodded and carefully handed Tony the girl, who was almost unconscious with pain. He rushed to the new helicopter that had just landed, and gave Sage over to the medics, who looked scared at her condition. The three Avengers got onto the carrier as it got into the air.

"Call Fury. I'm sure he'll want to know she's alive," Tony asked Natasha. She picked up one of the medics phones and dialed the number.

"Is she alive?"

"It's Natasha. Yes she is alive but severely injured from the explosion." Natasha saw Sage flinch as the word.

"Good. I'll have the ICU ready for her. One more thing, Dr. Banner is here now." Fury hung up briskly. Natasha returned the phone back into the jacket pocket of one of the medics.

"Fury said the ICU's ready and Bruce is there."

They landed faster than they ever had before. It only taking three hours at top speed to get back to SHIELD. They pulled Sage onto a stretcher and immediately took her into the operation room. Clint, Natasha, and Tony got out of the carrier and into the large building. Bruce was waiting in the hall of the ICU. Tony smiled and hugged Bruce.

"It's good to see you man!"

"Yeah you too," Bruce smiled as he shook Natasha and Clint's hands. They were a little more wary of being around him, but Tony was completely open.

A few nurses rushed out of the operating room, running to Tony. "We need something to keep her heart going and if possible, break her out of her coma state," Tony nodded.

"You want me to build something? Sure, I'd love to," Tony sped to his small lab, pulling Bruce along to help. Natasha was exhausted, so she slumped down onto the waiting chairs, Clint following right next to her.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Natasha whispered to Clint, keeping her eyes focused on the floor.

"I do. She's strong. I know she'll make it." Clint smiled and locked hands with Natasha, who smiled back.


	3. Please Don't Go

"Will that work?" Tony asked as they hooked up the tiny machine to Sage. They all looked at him hopefully but didn't answer. The air was thick in the room as the machine was turned on. It sent small electrical currents to her heart and mind, waking her up slowly. He learned the skill from Thor, which brought back uncomfortable and embarrassing memories.

"I believe it's working!" one of the nurses exclaimed as Sage struggled for air through the tube down her throat. Natasha came over to Sage, leaning in to whisper, "Honey it's just helping you breathe. You will be fine, I promise. Just open your eyes and relax." Sage slowly dragged her eyes open, looking at the ceiling for a few seconds before looking down as the bunches of people surrounding her. Her heart rate started to pick up as the nurses and doctors started coming near her, her eyes becoming large before scrunching in pain as she tried to move away. Natasha got in the way, "Get away from her, she doesn't want an audience. There's too many people in this room, so clear out." She spoke sternly and over half of them complied to leave, not wanting to mess with the Black Widow.

A doctor came over to Sage and after a small evaluation, took out the breathing tube, making Sage gasp and cough in pain. Tony, Clint, and Bruce were waiting outside patiently, watching closely as Natasha and Sage interacted. They all walked in slowly, not coming too close to the bed so not to scare Sage. She lightly and painfully smiled and Clint and Tony, then looked at Bruce. She didn't know too much about any of these people, so she had no clue who he was.

"H-Hello," Sage stuttered towards Bruce. She only knew the name because she overheard Natasha talking on the phone earlier in the carrier. Bruce smiled and nodded towards her, coming a little closer.

"How are you feeling?" Bruce asked, watching her steady heartbeat on the monitor. Almost no ones heartbeat was that steady near him. Straight away he knew that Sage had no idea who, or to be more specific, what he was. She probably didn't even know who the others were.

"Not too b-bad, considering," Sage tried to smile. Then her smile faded as memories started to come back. The flash of the bomb underneath her. Jocelyn lifeless in the air with her. Hitting the ground at full force onto metal. She started hyperventilating at the thought.

"W-where are my friends?!" she started to get louder as her monitor started going off with noises and alarms. Her bloodshot eyes scanned the room over and over again, replaying the disaster in her head. She saw Evelyn, her best friend in the world, unmoving on the ground next to Jordan, like the world had froze. She looked at everyone in the room, trying to remain calm but it was becoming harder to bear. Clint shoved the one doctor out of the room and locked the door to keep everyone else out, knowing too much sound or movement would scare Sage. Natasha and Bruce came over to Sage, trying to calm her down. Tony watched her monitor; her heart rate was rising inhumanly high. He looked down to Sage, seeing her starting to go into what looked like a severe panic attack. He knew what that was like, and it was terrible.

"'Honey you have to calm down," Natasha whispered as she took Sage into her arms. Bruce just stared in thought. 'She was in a gamma explosion. She lived, and now she's having a really bad anxiety attack. What if she's like me. This can't be happening." Bruce quickly pulled Natasha away from Sage.

"What if she's like me," Bruce whispered, scared for the girl in front of him.

"What do you mean?" Natasha was obviously not getting it. Tony came next to Bruce, "giant green rage monster!" Bruce glared at Tony, who backed away but still had a small smile on his lips. Natasha looked over to the traumatized girl. That couldn't be possible, it isn't possible. She looked back to Bruce who gave her a sad look. They walked back over to Sage, who had since then gone almost still, her eyes still wide open and scared. Her eyes were the same vibrant green as in the cave; definitely not the same as her normal green eyes. Clint stayed in the corner, watching and keeping the door secure as the nurses and doctors tried to get in.

"Honey look at me, please," Natasha spoke as she watched Sages' body start to shake in violent tremors. Bruce had seen this before, but not to anyone else. Sage looked over to Bruce, a tear streaking down her face as she grabbed his hand, squeezing hard as a wave of pain came through her body.

"Get out of here," Bruce said to the other three, but they all stayed planted to their spots. Sage was squirming in her bed, groaning painfully and using Bruce's hand as what seemed to be her only lifeline.

"Now!" he yelled, and they started opening the doors to get out, pushing away the nurses and doctors, then re-locking the door.

"No one go in there!" Natasha yelled when she saw the doctors still trying to get into the room.

"What the hell do you think you're doing stopping them all from doing their damn jobs!?" Fury came rushing in from the hall, looking into the room as a struggling Sage gripping Bruce. His eye became wide; he knew something was up with the girl, but he thought nothing of if she was similar to Dr. Banner.

"Everyone back the hell away!" Fury rushed into the crowd to the door, then pushing the doctors away from it. Tony grabbed them and threw them out of the way along with the help of Natasha and Clint. All the workers soon left, not wanting to get hurt by Natasha or Tony. Even Clint and Fury scared them. They stared in awe and backed away slowly as they watched Sage fight for control and Bruce trying to get her through it without harming anyone.

Bruce was scared. Not for his life, but what was happening to this girl. He wouldn't put his worst enemies through his pain, his curse. Now he was watching a young girl go through it, and not being able to help her. Bruce was angry at himself for not being able to help in probably the worst and most painful moment in her life. His hand got shoved to the bed, almost breaking by the pressure of Sages' stiff form. Tears were streaming down the sides of her face, yet she still kept her eyes on Bruce, unable to take her eyes away from him. Her nerves and veins burned and it felt like she was being electrocuted from the inside out.

"You're fine. Just breathe, you're going to get through this," Bruce kept repeating, to reassure Sage or himself, he had no clue.

"W-What is h-happening, to me," Sage groaned through tightly locked teeth, another wave of pain coursing through her body as she arched her back up on the bed.

"Nothing we can't handle. You will get through this. We will get through this." Bruce needed to calm her down somehow. He barely knew how to calm himself down, how was he supposed to help this girl! His body started shaking but he pushed the feeling down. There was no way he would turn in this situation, he couldn't let that happen.

Fury had left to get officials to get a 'special' room for the two, seeing that the glass hospital room wouldn't hold either Bruce nor Sage if they were to turn. Tony was leaning against the glass, staring intently to what was happening inside. He couldn't hear any of it, but he saw it all. Sage was having a lot of problems keeping herself down, and Bruce was starting to fall as well. This was not going to end well. Bruce was getting to stressed trying to help Sage. Tony looked back to Clint and Natasha, giving them a small nod before rushing inside and locking the door behind him. Natasha and Clint ran to the glass, screaming at Tony to get out. He just shook his head and turned towards Bruce and Sage. Sage's eyes were squeezed shut and Bruce was looking forward, concentrating on trying to help the girl while keeping himself normal. Tony looked around the room for anything to help. He spotted a tray of tools and needles, seeing a harsh sedative in one of the needles. He grabbed it and went next to Sage carefully, seeing that both Bruce and Sage were on edge. Bruce kept uttering, "We'll make it through this Sage, I promise," but he was getting quieter and quieter.

Bruce finally looked up to Tony, then down to the sedative. His eyes flashed green and he hissed in pain, shutting his eyes tightly and falling to his knees, his hand still tightly locked with Sage's.

"Give it to her!" Bruce yelled as he glared up to Tony. Tony nodded and shoved the needle into Sage's arm, making her shake in pain, her body becoming overwhelmed. Her eyes shot open as the sedative started to take affect. She looked over at Tony, breathing heavily and labored, then down at Bruce, whose head was leaning against the side of the bed, his eyes shut extremely tight.

"B-Bruce?" she gasped as his grip tightened on her hand. Tony had no idea what to do. Sage was starting to fade from the heavy dose of sedatives. He just noticed that he gave her triple the normal dosage.

"Get me.. out of here.." Bruce growled as he let go of Sage's hand, wrapping his arms around himself, trying to stop the change, but failing miserably. Tony ran over to Bruce and helped him up, which was extremely difficult since he had no suit on and Bruce was not a small man. Tony shouted at someone to open the door and Clint swung the doors open, helping Bruce out of the room. Natasha ran into the room with Sage.

"She's drugged," Tony yelled to Natasha as tried his best to stay upright. Tony stumbled under Bruce's weight, dropping to his knees. He couldn't get Bruce out. Bruce rolled over to his back, groaning in agony and putting his arms over his face.

"I can't Tony, I can't stop," he gasped.


End file.
